Wives/Girlfriend and Speakers

[Ruin]

Ok, so I finally got the system in my sig hooked up the other night. Now, it is replacing a Cerwin-Vega HT in a box that I picked up on clearance 4 or 5 years ago, connected to a Sony 5.1 HT receiver.

I must say, DAANG this sounds good.

Ok, so last night the wife and I pop in Pulp Fiction. Man, I am hearing sounds I never heard before. Actually, in everything I listen to I am hearing every scuff of a shoe, drip of water, etc. etc. I can hear each individual instrument..well you know the drill. So anyway, I ask her "how do you like the sound?" She says," I guess it is ok. I don't think I hear a difference." I am like, COME ON! She says "well maybe I can hear some more of the suround sounds."

Sigh

Anyone have their wives/girlfriends actually appreciate an upgrade of huge magnitude to your system? I mean, sure I don't expect her to notice a change in cables, but come on, this is like a 500% improvement!

Ruin

[Mike682]

Your new system is a major, major step up from your previous system. Congrats!

There is a syndrome called acute post purchase deafness (APPD). Usually affects the female after upgrading gear. This will go away after some time...:D

[ronnie]

just like friends are forever....so is your passion for sound , and improving that sound...chicks are a dime a dozen~!!!!!!! i've let go alot of girls because they did'nt like my passion for LOUD and louder music....it is what it is....leave it or LOVE it

[LessisNevermore]

Your new system is a major, major step up from your previous system. Congrats!

There is a syndrome called acute post purchase deafness (APPD). Usually affects the female after upgrading gear. This will go away after some time...:D


Ditto the congrats, and enjoy.

APPD is actually the female version of MSH, or Male Selective Hearing. Most males start to gain this ability during the dating stage, to be perfected by the second year of marriage.

Males who have perfected this ability, can sub-conciously determine within the first three words, whether to listen to the rest, or tune it out.

Side effects may include:
Back stiffness due to sleeping on the couch,
Large painful lumps in the cranial region,
Extreme difficulty in sexual activity, unless conducted alone.

Or so I've heard..........;)

[Joey_V]

My GF doesnt think my Martin Logans are anything special... she's content listening to her $30 freebie computer speakers.

She's a cutie, but a speaker-connousieur (sp?) she is not.

[ESAVINON]

You have to teach them to appreciate this great hobby of ours.
Inicially, my fiancee was happy with a crappy all in one system until i started to teach her that there is a difference between conponents.
I started with my trusty old monitor 7c's and worked my way up to my sda 1.2tls. she was abled to hear a difference between all my individual gear.
I even made her a fanatic of the sda series!!

[mulveling]

My current girlfriend still enjoys her crappy laptop speakers when that's all that's available, but she doesn't pull the "it sounds a little better, I guess" crap when listening on my big rig - I've had a girlfiend like that before, and this is just not compatible with me :p

In fact, she very much appreciates the sonic differences to all the hifi gear I've owned. She's even tried to keep me from selling speakers and amps (if only I had the funds to) :D

[Toxis]

I've started to train my g/f on what to listen to. Now when I just upgraded my rears (not even the mains) to the LSi9's, she noticed before I even had to say anything. "Now that definitely feels like a perfect match. I like this!" Yeah, she's a keeper. She knows this is a passion of mine and no matter what I want, she knows that 1. I will get what I want eventually and 2. she might as well let me because it's what will make me happy.

[danger boy]

Ruin, congrats on your new system.. i'm sure it sounds amazing. what does the CI stand for on the Denon 4806?

[Andrew2112]

The thing is that for wives/gf you can not go with the angle of 'can you hear the improvement in the soundstage' etc, etc. You have to say something like: 'have you notice how better looking these speakers are than the previous ones?' or 'don't you like the way they blend with the rest of the furniture in the room' or to score tons of points: 'the new speakers make you look thinner!'

[EricBurg]

My girlfriend appreciates the sound of my HT. She can't tell that there are subtle difference between the different speakers I've tried in my system, however, when I added the SVsound sub, she said "wow, I can feel that in my body".

Now, as andrew has already pointed out, she does notice everytime I try out a new set of speakers, because she says it makes the room look cluttered and disorganized or that the speakers don't match the decor of the theater. Guess its all a matter of perspective.

Eric

[knownalien]

my wife is very cool when it comes to this type of questioning. I am very lucky in this respect. But she, like I, is a big Rush fan and all I need do is stick in it and say something like "can you hear how the new vifa tweeter really brings out Neal's ride cymbal?" Works all the time.

[pearsall001]

I think my wife thru the towel in on this one some time ago. All she ever says now is "What the hell are you buying now?) My 12yr son calls me a "Stereo freak!!! but deep down they do appreciate how good my system sounds. They love the way movies sound & without even knowing it really do appreciate the sound especially when they come to me with on of their CD's & ask me to play it. I ask what's the matter with your player upstairs? All they say is "It doesn't sound the same as it does on your player" Ah HA!! see you do hear the difference. I just laugh to myself & put it on.

[Ruin]

Ha, you all crack me up.

I think the "CI" stands for Custon Integration. Basically, this is the 4806 with some upgrades including the ability to tune in internet radio (personally I would not be able to stand listening to that on this system), and also to access media files on a PC using Windows Connect. I will actually use that. I have around 1000CDs ripped as 320bit MP3s, and I am in the process of re-ripping them as Windows Media lossless files. Having quick easy access to all my CSs in lossless format will be nice for most music playing. For "critical" listening I will still probably use the original CD.

So today the wife and kids decided to watch Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. When the THX sound played the wife said " oh my, that does sound quite a bit better." LOL

My problem now is that all the cabinets in our living room are rattling to the subs. I am gonna have to figure out how to dampen them.

Ruin

[irregularjoe]

Last night I gave my S.O. a new 5.1 Home Theater system for her birthday.
Polk RM 6900
Onkyo TXSR603S A/V receiver
Onkyo DV-CP702 six disk DVD changer.

She really likes everything because they are all silver :) and she has been on a silver trend lately.
The old system( Bose Accoustimass 5's and it's wannabe "sub woofer") was just two channel stero that was seperate from the TV other than my routing TV audio thru the receiver. Also I had the old 10 watt per channel reciever and cd changer in a new pantry that I just build as part of a year long kitchen remodel. So I can now free up all the pantry space that the old units were taking up. This also made a huge hit with my S.O. :)
And finally, the Bose and old stereo are now going to be relocated to the master bedroom where we have been without music for some time now.
All in all, a good plan.

I think she'll really enjoy the sound of the new systrm also. I know I will!

[steveinaz]

Ever have your girl ask you which pair of shoes look better?...then you know where I'm going with this. It's not so much a girl/guy thing as it is an audiophile thing. Non-audiophiles don't know what to listen for...

[halo]

I guess I'm pretty lucky. More often than not she admits to an upgrade making a difference. She couldn't stop smiling the first time I fired up our SVS :D

[fredv]

I guess I'm pretty lucky. More often than not she admits to an upgrade making a difference. She couldn't stop smiling the first time I fired up our SVS :D
Lucky you, the first time I fired up my SVS when I played Lord of the Ring series. She told me to low the volume :( Since then, I never asked her opinion of my toys ......

[knownalien]

When I first turned on my SVS I had no choice but to turn it down: the couch one floor above was moving!!!

[AndyGwis]

Ruin,

I think your significant other is actually an audiophile. She just said it sounded about the same because she knows the Lsi's need some external amplification. She's probably trying to goat you into buying a 5-channel amp :)

[Ruin]

ROFL :)

Umm yeah, thats it, she must be an audiophile..she was muttering Outlaw, Outlaw, Ooouuutttlaaaaw....
in her sleep last night. Hell, I thought she was playacting or something in her dreams, obviously I was mistaken. :)

Hey, you diss'n my AVR? Given the magnitude of the upgrade I just made, it does just fine for me. So far I have not found reason to have the volume higher than -10db, so I don't need more oomph; as for clarity that comes along with a nice high power external amp... well, if I don't hook one up I won't know what I am missing for now :) (ok, maybe I know but I can be in denial, after all I just went from a Best Buy Sony receiver to a top 3 Denon)

Ruin

[AndyGwis]

Ruin, I was just trying to give you a somewhat plausible excuse to continue upgrading. Not hating at all, check out my sig. . . my rig screams mediocrity.

You are about 10 steps ahead of me in all categories, and I am jealous. Bet your rig sounds great. And, good thing about this hobby (or bad thing), there's always room for improvement.

Enjoy your new LSi's!

[Ruin]

Hey AndyGwis, I knew you where kidding, as was I.
Gonna need one heck of an excuse to upgrade any further for awhile. The wife already knows that my 3930CI is on the way (preordered), and that next month I am replacing our 36" RCA with a 65" Mitsubishi WD-65831. :)
That will pretty much complete the living room conversion.

Of course my boys are convinced that I am going to convert the garage into a real theater. They just don't have a timeline on that yet. :)

Cheers

Ruin

[sucks2beme]

The only thing I've gotten that got a positive reation from the Mrs. is the SVS
sub. She was disgusted at first, but after a couple of days, she came in and
announced she thought it was time to buy a big screen tv for movie watching!
I think the light bulb came on when she heard the rumbling bass.:D
She wants some concert DVDs now for her birthday.
The 2 channel , she would be happy to see gone. Son number 2 now, he likes
my old stuff. He mainly uses my DT770 headphones, Pioneer Elite integrated,
and Denon cd player. Much of the time , games or MP3 from the pc is the source.

[reeltrouble1]

Dont listen to me, if you do divorce/break-up is imminent. Should these events take place anyway we have a couple of ladies who hang with us, but your on your own in that department.


Hmmmm........note to self, wonder if the Oh the Joys fellows have a MAF????

RT1

[cfrizz]

ROFLMAO!!!! Oh Ted you're killing me here! WAAAAAAAAAAA!!!


Dont listen to me, if you do divorce/break-up is imminent. Should these events take place anyway we have a couple of ladies who hang with us, but your on your own in that department.


Hmmmm........note to self, wonder if the Oh the Joys fellows have a MAF????

RT1

[Zero]

Funny stuff guys!

I've been lucky enough to find girls that really loved my systems. I'm sure that luck will run out when it will matter most! :D :p

Ironically enough, its the guys that have only expressed modest interest / appreciation for the system whenever I let them hear it.

[XJRGUY]

I'm very very lucky with my fiance'

When I ordered all my Polk's for our house and set them up, it was at first without subwoofer and my pair of Pro Power 10 amps.

It sounded fantastic to me, but she was not really impressed.

When I told her that I ordered a subwoofer and came home with the pair of monster amps, she was pretty excited.

After I set it all up, she had me demo'ing the system to our friends and she definitely notices differences in sound.

I guess it helps that her previous husband worked at JBL and designed loudspeakers, huh?

XJRGUY

[zombie boy 2000]

Just to let you know... my center channel has sat on top of my TV for about three months without even being hooked up. The wife just noticed this weekend that it wasn't producing sound. Now I know the Arros create a rock-solid center image, but we're nearfield here....